Forbidden Worlds #42
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeForbidden Worlds #42 is a representative mid-run issue of ACG's flagship fantasy anthology, published in April 1956 at a culturally pivotal moment — just after the series returned from its brief, Comics Code-pressured hiatus as Young Heroes and re-launched under the softened subtitle 'Stories of Strange Adventure.' The issue sits inside the window in which ACG proved that a post-Code supernatural anthology could survive intact, a feat that distinguished the publisher from competitors who had to gut their horror lines far more drastically. Its lead story, 'Mr. Miggs from Mercury!', introduced a character notable enough to be reprinted across multiple platforms over the following decade, demonstrating that even a mid-tier ACG issue could generate lasting material. As part of a series that would go on to win the 1964 Alley Award for Best Regularly Published Fantasy Comic, #42 reflects the consistent editorial quality that earned Forbidden Worlds that recognition.
In "Mr. Miggs from Mercury!", Al Perry finds himself caught between a dream and a reality that won’t quite align—his perfect TV quiz show appearance starts off just as he imagined, but things take a turn when the dream begins to unravel. With art by Hy Eisman and a striking cover by Ogden Whitney, this 1956 issue from American Comics Group delivers a surreal twist on fame and fortune, all wrapped in a 10-cent dose of mid-century sci-fi whimsy.
When a bitter Mercurian inventor named Mr. Miggs discovers Earth through his new tele-receptor device, he's struck by the planet's apparent similarities to his own world—and plots to destroy it as his grim assignment from his domineering leader, Queen Skiddlebup. After arriving on Earth and narrowly escaping a women's convention, Miggs must navigate a dangerous new world while carrying the means of total destruction, even as trouble brews at the Barton Giant Traveling Carnival back on solid ground. Can this resentful visitor complete his mission, or will Earth's inhabitants—and the carnival's determined defender Betty Barton—throw a wrench in his plans?
When a mysterious accident victim arrives at Dr. Hal Farrow's hospital speaking ancient Latin, the doctor witnesses something impossible—the young man aging decades in mere hours. As Crito awakens and recounts his staggering tale, Farrow learns he's standing before a man who's walked the earth for over two thousand years, sustained by an alchemist's elixir of youth that he's guarded since ancient Greece. Caught between scientific skepticism and undeniable evidence, Farrow must grapple with the weight of Crito's extraordinary secret and the weariness that comes with an immortality spanning empires and centuries.
In "A Question of $64,000!" from Forbidden Worlds #42, Al Perry wakes up to find his dream of appearing on a high-stakes quiz show eerily close to reality—only to discover that the game has a twist no script could predict. As the line between dream and reality blurs, he must decide what’s truly at stake when the prize money feels less like a win and more like a test.
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The issue was produced under the indicia imprint Best Syndicated Features Inc., one of several rotating corporate shells ACG employed — a practice rooted in founder Benjamin W. Sangor's strategy of presenting the company as an advertising representative rather than a single publisher. Editor Richard E. Hughes, who would eventually write most of the series under pseudonyms, oversaw the issue, while the cover was provided by Ogden Whitney, the artist who anchored the look of the series for most of its run. Art duties inside were split among Hy Eisman, Harry Lazarus, Tom Hickey, and John Rosenberger, the kind of steady freelance pool that kept ACG titles visually consistent through the mid-1950s.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Published April 1956 by ACG under the indicia name Best Syndicated Features Inc., one of multiple rotating corporate imprints the company used throughout its history.
- Edited by Richard E. Hughes, who served as the guiding editorial voice of Forbidden Worlds for virtually the entire series run and later wrote most stories under pseudonyms.
- Cover art by Ogden Whitney, who was the primary cover artist for Forbidden Worlds through this era and later became the definitive artist for Herbie Popnecker.
- Interior art by Hy Eisman, Harry Lazarus, Tom Hickey, and John Rosenberger — a roster drawn from ACG's stable of dedicated freelancers.
- The lead story 'Mr. Miggs from Mercury!' features characters Miss Meteorite, Queen Skiddlebup, Mr. Miggs, Ozzie Barbuti, Half-Nelson McGurk, and Betty Barton; it was subsequently reprinted in Adventures into the Unknown #125 (June–July 1961), Five-Score Comic Monthly #52 (K.G. Murray, August 1962), Amazing Stories #2 (Alan Class, c. 1965), and Secrets of the Unknown #95 (Alan Class, c. 1969).
- The issue was also collected in PS Artbooks' hardcover Collected Works: Forbidden Worlds #7 (June 2014), part of a modern archival reprint project covering the entire ACG fantasy line.
- Issue #42 appeared during the period immediately following the series' post-Comics Code relaunch: Forbidden Worlds had briefly become Young Heroes (issues #35–37, 1955) under Senate subcommittee pressure before returning with the new subtitle 'Stories of Strange Adventure' — making #42 an early issue of the reconstituted series.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Adventures into the Unknown #125 (1961), Astonishing Stories #1 (1962), The Hundred Comic #79 (1963), Tales of the Supernatural #[nn] (1964), Amazing Stories #2 (1965), Secrets of the Unknown #95 (1969), Sinister Tales #100 (1971), Uncanny Tales #186 (1988), Collected Works: Forbidden Worlds #7 (2014)
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